


Premonition Nightmares

by CorgiFromSpace



Category: Bones (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-04-14
Updated: 2009-04-14
Packaged: 2018-01-09 05:15:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,119
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1141885
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CorgiFromSpace/pseuds/CorgiFromSpace
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After leaving with Sully, Brennan is unable to avoid losing things she holds close to her heart.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

_  
The cold sterile air of the Jeffersonian Medical-Legal laboratory welcomed me back as I entered the room I had missed so much during the year I had been away. I felt like Dr Temperance Brennan again. Various interns milled around and I smiled, content to see my friends gathered on the platform._

_“Ange,” I called, and the ears of the forensic artist, her boyfriend, Dr Jack Hodgins, as well as those of my ex grad-student Dr Zack Addy easily caught my words._

_“Bren, sweetie!” She called, and engulfed me in a hug. I laughed but stopped short. Something was wrong. The air in the lab was thick with tension, and, when I stepped back, Ange had tears streaming down her face._

_“Ange, what’s wrong?” I asked, concerned._

_“Sweetie, we tried to contact you! Sully… he said you’d call as soon as possible. We never heard back!”_

_“He never said anything,” I said softly. “Ange, what happened?” She shook her head._

_“I have to show you,” she said, and disappeared into her office to collect her keys. She was stuffing something into her pocket as she returned. Silently the two of us walked to Ange’s car, and climbed in.  
\- - -_

_Ange, why are we at a cemetery?” I asked as our destination became apparent._

_Angela didn’t answer and she climbed out of the car, heading towards a section a small distance from us. I unplugged my seatbelt and followed her. She stopped at a small grave, and I stopped beside her, looked down at the small headstone, and read the name inscribed upon it._

_My heart stopped._

Special Agent Seeley Booth  
Beloved father, trusted friend,  
She will miss you.

_“NO! Ange, how? When? What?” I broke down and fell to my knees, running my hand across the smooth marble._

_“It happened about nine months after you left. None of us really know what happened. He never got the chance to tell us.” She put a hand on my shoulder offering small comfort. “He told us what to write. Except for the last line, that was Hodgins’ idea.”_

_“When?” I asked._

_“He was in hospital for just over a week. The doctors thought he would be okay. He kept saying it over and over on his last day; she won’t miss me, she won’t miss me. Sometimes it would take him hours to snap back into reality, while other times it would take only a few seconds. I think he was trying to convince himself that you wouldn’t.”_

_“Why? Why would he think that?” I wanted to scream to the world. I was breaking apart inside, and I knew it wouldn’t take long before I cracked on the outside as well._

_“I don’t know Sweetie. He left you a letter, I have it here for you.” Ange handed me an envelope, and I took it, standing up as I did, trying to exert a sense of calm. Slowly, I opened the letter, and my throat clenched at the sight of his flawless handwriting. Well, it was flawless to me. He was always perfect in my eyes._

Dr Brennan,  
As no one will be able to correctly inform you of what happened to me leading to my hospitalisation, I have made it my duty to make sure you are informed by someone who was present, namely, myself. 

Approximately nine months, four days and five hours after you left to sail around the Caribbean with Agent Sullivan (not that I was counting), a body was found in a severely decomposed state. As head agent in charge of the investigation, I called on the assistance of Dr Zack Addy, Dr Jack Hodgins, Dr Camille Saroyan and Miss Angela Montenegro from the Jeffersonian Institute’s Medico-Legal Laboratory to help me identify the victim.

Working with his team, Dr Addy was able to positively identify the victim as Kaytlin Miller, aged 25, the time of death placed 3 months before. Within a short period of time, a second victim was found in a field close to the original. The second victim, identified as Analeise Renton, also 25, had the same MO but the time of death was placed a month after the first. I ordered a search of the surrounding fields, and we found several more victims.

We had no major leads in the case. There were no perceptible links between each victim, and we had difficulty getting any information from the community. Eventually, Dr Addy had a breakthrough. When marked on the map, the positions of the bodies spelt out DK in Morse code.

Donald Kraft lived within a small distance of the fields where the victims were found. I am unsure now exactly how far away, but we had been unable to contact him, and decided to survey the building. 

After four days we spotted Kraft entering his building, carrying the murder weapon, and we acted. I, along with a tactical team entered the building, hoping to apprehend Kraft. 

Kraft was waiting. He had an accomplice in the local police force that had alerted him to our surveillance. He blocked the 4 agents that made up the tactical team, and left me to seek him out alone.

I found him in the centre of the building. He had a gun pointed at me. I drew my weapon, and warned him. He fired a shot at me. It missed. I fired back.

The shots alerted Kraft’s accomplice. He came around the corner into the room. He also had a firearm. Unfortunately, he was a much better shot than Kraft. I took a shot to the abdomen and a shot to the chest.

The rest of the events are unclear from my perspective. One of the other agents informed me later that they had been able to free themselves from the blockade, and come after me. They found me bleeding out on the floor. Kraft and his accomplice escaped. Police outside of Dallas later apprehended them.

I was rushed to hospital, where surgeons removed my spleen and tried to reinflate my left lung. They told me later that it was lucky that the bullet missed my heart. They expected me to make a complete recovery. Obviously, I didn’t.

After my first week in the hospital, I was informed that I was not healing at the rate the doctors hoped I would, and they had no reason as to why. One doctor was concerned that I had stopped putting up a fight. The others said nothing, but I knew they suspected the same thing.

During the time I’ve been here, Dr Addy, Dr Hodgins and Miss Montenegro visited me daily. Angela tried to contact you, however she was informed by Agent Sullivan that you would call back as soon as you could. You never did.

My son Parker visited as often as he could, and often asked about your location. I told him that you would get here as soon as you could. He was disappointed that you were never there when he was. I knew by then that I would most likely die, and I wanted to spend time with the most important people in my life. However, you were with Agent Sullivan.

I don’t blame you for not coming, Dr Brennan. You were spending time with Sully, and I understand the difficulty you would have to tear yourself away from him. However, I thought you might manage to come see you partner while he was on his deathbed. 

I am going to die, Dr Brennan. Nothing short of a miracle is going to change that. For a time, I thought that you coming back would be a miracle. Recently, I have stopped thinking about it at all.

I believe I know you quite well, Dr Brennan. Therefore, I know you will not miss me. It is illogical to miss people; you cannot change the way things happened simply by missing someone.

I, however, am not logical. If you knew me half as well as I know you, you would know that. So, if you wish to avoid my irrationality, I suggest you skip the rest of this letter.

I tried to be objective while writing this, Bones. I really did. I miss you, so very terribly, and it makes me mad. You left. It was your choice. So why do I feel as if it’s my fault that you did? Would you have stayed if I told you before that I -

Goodbye Dr Brennan, it was an honour working with you,  
Special Agent Seeley Booth

_The letter dropped to the ground and I followed. Ange wrapped her arms around me, and I cried. Booth was gone, and he never told me what he wanted to._

_“He started to tell me something, Ange. He started to, but he stopped. Why would he stop?” I asked through my tears._

_“He loved you, Bren. He wanted to tell you that.” She whispered back to me, and I broke out of her grasp. I wiped at my eyes, removing most of the tears, stood, and moved to stand before the headstone. I crouched in front of it, and rested my fingers on the cold marble._

_“I think I loved him too, Ange. I think I still do.” I ran a finger over his name, printed neatly onto the stone. “I’m sorry, Booth, I shouldn’t have left!”_

_I stood up some time later, and turned back to Ange. My head felt heavy, and my heart felt broken. It felt to me that the whole world had ended. I suppose it had.  
Booth was dead…_  
\- - -

I shot up in bed, my heart pounding. I could hear nothing but the sound of the waves crashing against the boat, and my heavy breathing. Sully stirred beside me. As my breathing steadied, he woke.

“Tempe?” He asked, his voice slurred with sleep. “Wassa matter?’

“Nothing, bad dream. Go back to sleep,” I replied, knowing that he wouldn’t make me talk about it. For a strange reason, I almost wanted him to. But this was Sully, not Booth.

Booth.

That was all it took for my heart to speed up again. I shook my head, shocked by the effect a dream was having on me. Dreams are simply the subconscious and the…

I paused halfway through my explanation. There was no point. I was still panicked over the dream. Which was illogical, because I knew it wasn’t true. If Booth were hurt, Angela would call. 

But she had in my dream too. Sully didn’t tell me. Why wouldn’t Sully tell me? He had to have some reason. Perhaps he forgot? No, that wasn’t likely. Sully could remember exactly what I was wearing on the day we first met. So why would he not inform me of my friends contacting me?

“Sully? Are you awake?” I whispered. I heard his mumbled reply. “Has anyone from the Jeffersonian tried to contact me?”

“What? Tempe, if they had, wouldn’t I have told you? What reason would I have to not tell you?” Sully asked, not quite answering my question. I didn’t ask him anymore about it. 

Perhaps I should have.

\- - -

The rest of the day continued as normal. We pulled into a small harbour town, Sully went to collect any mail we had, and I restocked our food reserves. The town was quite pretty, and I ended up strolling the streets for a few hours, before returning to the Temperance. I was disappointed, as I had seen no sign of a phone anywhere, and Sully had my cell phone. However, I shook the disappointment out of my head. I was being paranoid; it was only a dream after all.

When I arrived back at the boat, Sully was not back. I went into the cabin, and cleaned up some of the mess. When he did return, I pushed the dream out of my head.

Until later.  
\- - -

_Once again a cold, sterile environment welcomed me but the room gave no feeling of pleasure as I entered. This was not the Jeffersonian. It was a hospital, a place that caused nothing but pain._

_But more than that, it was the ICU of a hospital._

_And I was looking for Booth._

_He wasn’t dead. He was in a coma. ‘Is there any difference?’ The irrational parts of my mind called to me. I silenced them. Of course there was a difference. People came out of comas. No one comes back from the dead; death is permanent._

_But why, why, why Booth?_

_When I reached his room, the sight was enough to send my stomach into a spin. Considering what I do for a living, I was surprised._

_He was so pale, and looked so weak. Tubes ran from his body to machines. The steady beating of a heart-rate monitor was the only thing that stopped me from thinking that he had died while I was in the elevator._

_Flowers filled the room, and on a table beside the bed sat a small card with two stick figures drawn on the front page. It came from Parker, of course. Angela had put a photo of the two of us beside the card, and it was clear that they had been by every day._

_I sat in a chair beside Booth’s bed, and grabbed his hand. I knew it wouldn’t make any difference, but I had to. It was cold. My mind conjured up images of Booth: his hand on the small of my back as he led me out of the lab; sitting with me at the diner eating his pie; the way he could comfort me with the flash of that smile._

_“Who’s going to comfort me now, Booth?” I asked the empty room, and squeezed his hand, as if I could pull him back into reality._

_“Bren?” I heard Angela say as she moved closer. Maybe the room wasn’t as empty as I had hoped. Ange’s footsteps hurried over to me, and her arms came around me from behind. “When did you get back?”_

_“About an hour ago. I got your messages yesterday, and left,” I said. “Sully stayed.” Ange got my meaning._

_“I’m so sorry, Bren,” She said, and came to stand beside me, squatting so she could be at my level. “He didn’t want me to contact you unless things went badly.”_

_“So being shot and nearly killed didn’t count?” I said, angrily. “I’m sorry Ange. It’s not your fault. I’m just angry with Sully. He was informed by the FBI and didn’t see fit to tell me, and then got mad because I wanted to come and see Booth! He had the audacity to call me a liar and… And… And…He looks so broken and I can’t help him.”_

_“Sweetie, it isn’t your fault!” Ange said, trying to comfort me. I brushed her off._

_“Yes it is!” I protested. “If I hadn’t left then I would have been there, and he would have had me.”_

_“What is this really about, Bren?”_

_“I…I…” Could it be that I, Dr Temperance Brennan, world-renowned author and forensic anthropologist, didn’t know what to say? I took advice that Booth gave me years ago, and said exactly what I meant. “I’ll never see his eyes again. I’ll never hear his voice. I’m not ever going to be Bones again, that’s for sure!”_

_“He’ll wake up--” Ange began, but I cut her off._

_“Even if he does, and I doubt he will, he won’t want to see me again! I left! I left and let him end up in here! He’ll never get to hear me tell him…” I trailed off._

_“Bren, sweetie, it isn’t your fault,” This time I let Ange hold me as I cried. Each tear fell in time with the beating of Booth’s heart. Once I felt better I pulled away, and moved closer to Booth._

_“Booth,” I whispered to him, taking his hand again. “I don’t know if you can hear me, but I have to tell you. I love you, Seeley.”_

_The beating of Booth’s heart stopped as I whispered my final words to him. I cried out, and doctors and nurses rushed in. I was shoved out of the way, and I couldn’t see him anymore._

_The flat-line beep continued._  
\- - -

I woke up screaming. Sully shot up next to me, and, surprisingly, I didn’t feel sorry for waking him. I turned, and let him wrap his arms around me. It wasn’t as comforting as being in Booth’s arms, I thought, and a strange feeling stirred in my stomach.

Booth.

Again my heart sped up.

I was beginning to think there was something wrong with him. While there was no hard evidence, some people had theorized that twins shared an almost telepathic bond. There had been several examples; I had even met a woman who knew that her twin was on my table before she even arrived, before I even knew. In the past I had written these events off as coincidence, but now I wasn’t as sure.

Was it possible that I had some sort of psychic link to Booth? Could these dreams be possible futures, and by questioning my actions, I was changing them? Or were they merely dreams? 

There was only one way to know for sure.

\- - -

The next day I tried to get in contact with Angela. It was not as easy as it sounded. There were no pay phones on the island, and Sully kept our cells locked in the safe. There was no easy way to get to the phone, so I decided to be practical and just ask him for my cell. He would have no reason to deny it to me, would he?

\- - -

“Sully, can you unlock the safe for me? I want to make a call,” I said when I found him on the deck of the Temperance.

“Why? He asked, and continued reading his book.

“I haven’t heard from Angela since we left, and I’m worried that something might have happened. So please, unlock the safe!” I said, impatiently.

“Fine! Geez, there’s no reason to get upset!” He said as he got up to get the cell phone from the safe. “Here, enjoy.” He passed me mine.

“Thank you,” I said and took the phone with me as I entered the cabin. I flipped it open and check the calls menu. I had 5 missed calls from Angela. I was furious that Sully didn’t tell me, but I thought it was more important that I found out why she called then yell at him. I punched in Ange’s number, and lifted the phone to my ear.

“Hello, Angela’s phone, Hodgins speaking.” I smiled when I heard Hodgins voice.

“Hey, Jack. It’s Brennan, is Angela there?” I asked, and I could almost hear Jack’s smile.

“Hey, Dr B, how’s the Caribbean?” He asked. “It’s taken you a while to call back, Ange was getting worried.”

“I’m sorry Hodgins, but I only just found out that she called about 5 minutes ago,” I said. “Is Ange there?”

“Uh, yeah, sure just hang on a minute.” I heard a series of bumps and brushes as the phone switched hands.

“Sweetie! Oh my gosh, what took you so damn long to return my call?” Ange asked when Hodgins told her who it was. I sighed and recounted my brief explanation. Of course, Angela had questions. “Why didn’t Sully tell you I called? Is he jealous? Does-“

I cut her off. “Ange, I don’t know why Sully didn’t tell me. I don’t know if Sully is jealous, and I don’t overly care. What I would like to know is whether every one back there in DC is okay!” There was silence on the other end of the phone for a few seconds while she accepted that I was not in a good mood.

“Bren, sweetie, I’m sorry if I irritated you. I’ve been dying to hear from you since you left.” I apologised for getting upset and she continued. “Everyone at the lab has been doing well. Zack has been doing great. He’s definitely no you, but he does his job well. Hodgie’s been good as well. Someone left the lid of one of his containers of bugs and they got everywhere. We spent an entire afternoon hunting them all down. I had an art show last week too, by the way. I’ll show some of the pieces when you get back.” I knew she was purposefully keeping something from me, but I went with it.

“I’ll be back sooner than you think, Ange,” I said, and I heard her try to hold in a gasp.

“Why? Aren’t things working out with you and Sully?” She asked.

“I’ve realised some things,” I said, vaguely. “One of which is the fact you didn’t mention Booth. What’s wrong?”

“How do you know anything’s wrong? He could be perfectly fine.”

“Angela, if he was perfectly fine you would have said something. By not mentioning that he was fine, you gave me reason to doubt he was.” I considered mentioning my dreams, but decided that I’d be better of being ambiguous. “I’ve been having a bad feeling lately, I suppose you could describe it as dread, and as nothing overly dreadful is happening here, it’s logical that something must be wrong back there.”

“Physically, Booth’s fine, and anyone who doesn’t know him would think he was perfectly fine mentally as well.”

“But you know better?”

“He misses you. A lot. If you add together the amount the rest of us miss you, and multiply it by the largest number you can think of, you still won’t be anywhere near as much as he misses you. His case closure rate has declined, and he’s not leaving the Hoover Building much anymore. The only time I see him smile, I mean really, really smile, is when he’s with Parker. Of course, that’s probably another reason for his depression- Rebecca hasn’t been letting him see Parker as much anymore. He’s been really distant lately and we’ve been really worried.

“Oh, god! Ange, I shouldn’t have ever left. In that state he could become careless, and I don’t know… I’ll be back soon; I just hope it’s soon enough!  
\- - - 

The lab was cold and sterile, just as I liked it. My team was on the platform, each of them bent over something, and I could see why Booth would call them squints. Booth himself was standing on the top of the platform’s stairs, with his back to me, waiting to get results. His shoulders were slumped, and he looked unhappy.

My observations were cut short when Ange saw me, and let out a small squeal. Hodgins and Zack looked up at her, and followed her gaze to me. Their faces lit up with almost identical smiles.

Booth didn’t turn around immediately. I saw him tense up, and his shoulders rose and fell with his breathing. When he did turn around, I was surprised. 

His face showed signs of exhaustion. His eyes were dark, and unreadable. But I could see the slightest traces of hurt and hope buried underneath. Our eyes met, and we stayed staring at each other, locked into place. Suddenly, out of nowhere, Booth grinned, and all signs of exhaustion left his face. With two steps he was down the stairs and had me pulled into his arms.

“Temperance,” he murmured happily into my hair, and I wrapped my arms around his back. For a few seconds I felt safe, and relieved. Then, Booth straightened and pulled away. “I’m sorry, Dr Brennan, that was unprofessional of me. Please forgive my abrupt behaviour.” He extended a hand. “Welcome back.”

“Booth,” I said, pleadingly, but he didn’t notice. He took my hand and shook it. I pulled back, and shook my head. “What have I done? I made a huge mistake, Booth, and I’m sorry.” I turned to Angela, who also hugged me, but she pulled back quickly. “Ange, is my office still set up?”

“Yes, it is.” She replied, and handed a piece of paper to Booth. “That’s the missing person’s report that you requested.” Angela walked back to the platform and I turned to Booth. The exhaustion had returned to his face.

“Agent Booth, I’ll be in my office if you need me, however technically I don’t return to work until tomorrow, is that correct, Dr Saroyan?” Cam nodded and I walked to my office. Booth stayed behind.  
\- - -

My office was the same as it was when I left, but I could tell that Booth had been there since then. I could smell traces of his cologne on the couch, and the place was dusted, although that could have been Angela. I walked slowly over to my desk, and settled into my chair. I turned on my computer and entered my password. Instead of bringing up my emails as I had originally planned, I opened my photos.

Booth smiled up at me from the screen. He looked so happy and cheerful. Parker was sitting beside him, and had an identical charm smile. The sight of my two favourite Booth men made me so much happier.

I hear could Angela talking to Booth about the case. I knew she wouldn’t interfere with what ever it was that was going on between us, and I was thankful. I watched as Zack stood up and spoke to Hodgins, then Cam, and finally to Booth, who seemed to tense up at his words before nodding. Zack walked towards my office, and I stood and met him at the door.

“Dr Brennan, I’m sorry to interrupt you, but there is an anomaly on the left femur that I can’t identify, and Dr Saroyan asked me to ask you if you could possibly identify it for us if you aren’t too busy.” He looked flustered, and I smiled. I hugged him, and Zack seemed quite surprised. I pulled away, and nodded. Together we walked back to the platform, and I bent over the examination table, trying to ignore the stares of my co-workers.

The femur was the size I had expected given the age and gender but it was easy to see the deformity in the bone. There was a slight indent about a third of the way down the bone. I pulled on a pair of gloves and lifted the femur up to eye level. I studied it carefully and soon I had a basic idea as to what the problem was. I explained the deformity to Zack, and he thanked me.

“Thank you, Dr Brennan, I should have recognised that,” Zack said, and returned to my side to retrieve the bone. I handed it to him carefully, before turning around and taking my gloves off. I dropped them in a bin before I headed back to my office. I saw Ange smile at Hodgins, before she followed after me.

“Sweetie, what’s the matter? You don’t seem happy to back,” She said taking a seat on the couch.

“I messed up Ange. Badly. He’s exhausted, and all I want is to see him smile again. Is that too much to ask? I don’t want him to be sad, but I know it’s my fault,” I ran my hands through my hair in frustration.

“How do you know it’s your fault?” She asked, and I sat with a sigh.

“While I was gone I had a series of dreams. Well, more like nightmares. In the first, Booth was killed while I was gone. He wrote me a note. It was more like a report, but it was almost accusatory. I woke up in tears, afraid that Booth had died hating me.” I paused to wipe the tears from my eyes. “The next, Booth was in a coma, and died in front of me, and I didn’t help him, I couldn’t help him. That’s why I came back. I can’t go through that in reality.”

“But you’re worried that even if you are here, he’ll still be upset?” I nodded, and Angela sighed. “Sweetie, Booth, he’d do anything for you. He thinks distancing himself from you will be better for both of you. He knows how much it hurt him to be away from you, and he doesn’t want you to feel like that.”

“That’s illogical! It hurt to be away from him for me too, Ange, and for some reason now I’m back it doesn’t hurt the same. Now it’s more of a knife through my heart.”

“You need to tell him, Sweetie. You need to tell him before you lose him.”

“I know,” I whispered, and dried the last of the tears from my eyes. I was going to do this, now or never.  
\- - -

I walked out to where the last of the team stood on the platform. Carefully, I approached Booth, and stood beside him.

“Dr Brennan,” He said in acknowledgement.

“Cut the Dr Brennan crap, Booth,” I said turning to him. I could see his jaw clench, and I knew that I was getting to him. “My name is Bones.”

“Really? So why is it that your identification card has Dr Temperance Brennan written on it?” I smiled, and unclipped the card from my jacket, and pointed to the name.

Dr Temperance Brennan was crossed out and in its place I had written Bones. I saw the corners of Booth’s mouth turned into a small smile for a few seconds, before they returned to the firm line.

“Okay,” he said. “Bones.” I had never heard him say the word with more coldness, and the sound caused a tear to track down my cheeks. Booth noticed, and on instinct, his hand went to my cheek and he brushed the tear away. When he realised what he had done, he pulled away, and left the platform. I followed him to the door, and grabbed his arm.

“Why are you doing this, Booth?” I asked, my voice unsteady. Once again I looked into Booth’s dark eyes.

“What are you talking about?” He asked, and I gave him a firm look.

“Is it because I went with Sully? I made a mistake, I told you that. I shouldn’t have gone.” I was tired of this, and I had to show Booth that.

“No, you shouldn’t have. You’re too good for Sully, Bones,” he said, and I could see the Booth I knew underneath.

“I realised that, Booth, but there’s more to this than that! What aren’t you telling me?”

“Did you care that you left?” Booth was angry now, and while it hurt to see him mad at me, it was better than him pretending that I didn’t exist. “Would you have cared if I was shot, or killed, while you were off spending time with Sully? 

That was too much. I slapped Booth across the face. I was suddenly very much aware that the entire lab was watching us, and I had just assaulted a federal agent. I was worried for about three seconds, before my anger returned.

“Of course I would! If anything were to happen to you, I would be insane with worry! Sure, I can compartmentalize most things, but if anything ever took you away from me, I would not be able to handle it. That should tell you enough! I can take my parents leaving, my brother leaving, Sully leaving, but if you were to go, I would break.” I wiped away my angry tears and continued. 

“I had nightmares while I was gone, Booth! Nightmares where you were killed or hurt because of me, because I wasn’t there, and when I woke, all I wanted was to see YOU! I couldn’t care less that Sully was there, all I wanted was to collapse into your arms. So I came back, leaving the first person I had met that I thought could care for me enough to make me forget that they weren’t you. I came back to find that you were gone, and this-“ I gestured at Booth for emphasis, “-This was in your place.”

“You say that Sully isn’t good enough for me.” My voice had dropped and now I was fully crying. “You say that you can’t see Sully being enough for me. Where do you see yourself on this scale?”

“Honestly?” Booth asked, shocked by my outburst. “Honestly, I don’t know where I stand with you, Bones. You’re a mystery to me; I know where I want to be, but not how to get there. One second, you’re screaming at me and I’m mad as all hell, the next you’re in tears and I don’t know how to help you only that I want to. Where do you see me? If this is you,” he held a hand at shoulder level, “and this is Sully,” he held a hand at hip level, “Where am I?”

I thought for a moment. “Here,” I said, and grabbed both of Booth’s hands, and positioned them over my heart. I heard Ange gasp in the background, but I stayed focused on Booth’s face. His eyes were wide, and, for a second, I wanted to take it back. But then he reacted.

Slowly, Booth took a step towards me, and removed one hand from my chest. He then took one of mine, and positioned them over his heart. “This is where you are, Bones,” he almost whispered. “This is where you have always been, even when I didn’t know you. This is where it hurt when you left, and this is where I went when I needed you. You’ll always have a place right here, just as I hope I’ll have a spot there.” Booth’s eyes travelled to where our hands were joined on my chest, before flicking up to meet my eyes.

“I love you, Temperance,” he whispered, and I didn’t even have time to reply before his lips descended onto mine. Our hands stayed clasped on their respective chests, but I was too caught up in the kiss to think about the slight discomfort in my upper arms.

The kiss was calm, and soothing, but there was a sense of urgency to it. It was sweet and desperate, and I knew that we were both trying to show exactly what we felt in that sweet first kiss. When we slowly broke apart, Booth was smiling, and he leaned his forehead against mine. I smiled up at him.

“I love you too, Booth. Forever,” I whispered back, and with that, Booth pulled his hands from mine, and stroked my cheeks. This time when our lips met, the kiss was full of passion.

Booth’s arms encircled my waist, drawing me close, and my arms wound up around his neck to tangle in his hair, and once again we revelled in the feel of each other. Unfortunately, we were brought back to reality when Angela coughed beside us. We broke apart, and I blushed.

“Bren, Sweetie, as much as we are all glad to see that you and Booth have finally realised your love for each other, could you please, please, please, move just a teensy bit to your right? You’re kinda blocking the doorway!”


	2. Alternate Ending in which Sully is a Dick

“Sully, I can’t stay here,” I said, blunt as always. He looked at me in shock for a few moments, before he shrugged.

“I figured it was only a matter of time. I knew that, once you talked to Angela, you would leave,” he said casually.

“And that’s why you kept my phone from me? How DARE you! That is low!” I was furious.

“What, so you think I’d just let you run away back to Booth?” Sully seemed to be equally as angry. We stood less than a metre away from each other.

“Don’t you dare to presume to know how I feel about Booth! I am going back because I can’t stay here with you anymore. Did you know that for the last few nights I’ve been waking up, unable to breathe, because of nightmares? Did you care? You certainly didn’t care enough to comfort me except for when I was screaming, and I think that was just to keep me quiet! Well, I’m leaving and you can’t stop me!”

“Tempe, come on, be reasonable. I love you! You normally don’t like being comforted when you’re upset.” Sully ran a hand along my cheek and brushed a stand of hair out of my eyes. “Don’t go.”

I pulled away. “I’m going, Sully… Please, just let me go.”

“Fine, leave, but good luck going back to the way it was before! Booth won’t want you near him. I heard he even got a new partner!”

“You’ve had contact with the FBI? You talked to your friends and family, and let me worry constantly about mine? If you loved me, you wouldn’t have done that!”

“Your family are a bunch of serial killers!” That was all it took for me to crack. I stepped back towards Sully and slapped him hard across the cheek. 

“My family are not killers! My family are people who take down killers for a living! My family are Angela, Jack and Zack.”

“You forgot Booth,” Sully snarled.

“Yes, Booth is part of my family. He’s closer to me then you have ever been. He knows more about me than you do, he cares more, and he would never stoop to insulting my family.”

This time it was Sully who slapped me. I gasped and raised a hand to my red cheek. I didn’t see his second hand fly towards me until it connected. The force was enough to send me stumbling backwards.

“Why did you lie to me, Temperance?” Sully asked his face contorted with anger. “Why would you come with me when you’re in love with your partner?”

“I don’t know,” I whispered, and Sully stumbled towards me. It was then that I realised he was drunk, and that I could be in real danger. “Sully, think about what you’re doing. You don’t want to do this!”

“Why not? You deserve it, you cheating little bitch. You pretend to love while all along you’re pining after your partner. Precious, perfect, Booth! Well he isn’t here to help you this time!”

He was right. Booth wouldn’t know anything was wrong until it was too late. I backed away and my legs hit the side of a chair, and I collapsed. I crawled away as Sully came after me. I was backed up against a wall, and there was no way I could get away.

I’m sorry I left, Booth! I thought, and hoped he’d know.

Sully stood in front of me, and I squeezed my eyes shut. There was an almighty crash, and I heard the sound of frantic footsteps, followed by a shout. I recognised the voice immediately, and my heart soared. I opened my eyes to a welcomed sight.

“Back away from her now, Sully!” Booth said, as he pointed his gun at my attacker. I whimpered in relief, and I saw Booth’s eyes flashed toward me, before quickly flicking back to Sully, who was edging away from me.

“Don’t make me shoot you, Sully. You know the position, on the ground, hands behind your head!”

 

“Why? What did I do? It’s her that did everything! How can you stand being near her after she left you for me? She chose me, Booth, not you. She loves me, don’t you Tempe?” Sully’s words weren’t slurred in the usual way they were when someone was drunk; they were jerky and I could hear signs of strain. I found my strength and stood shakily. I stepped towards Booth, and he took a step forward so I was partially shielded by his body.

“No, Sully. I don’t love you,” I said, and I saw anger flare in his eyes, before his face fell, and he sighed. He bent down slowly, and lay down, putting his hands behind his head. Booth grabbed his handcuffs, and clipped them onto Sully’s wrists, behind his back, being just a bit rougher than he needed to be.

Booth then turned to me, and I knew him well enough to see that he was checking me for injuries. He reached a hand out, and ran his fingertips over the swollen, red mark on my cheek. Tears spilled from my eyes as I fell into his warm embrace.

Booth stroked my back, and whispered softly to me. I felt so much calmer just being in his arms. I felt him kiss the top of my head, and I wriggled further into his arms. His grip tightened and I felt a tear drip onto my head. I pulled away and looked up into his eyes.

“I thought I’d lost you,” he whispered. “I thought I’d never see you again. I missed you, Bones, so, so much.”

“I missed you too, Booth. Even though missing someone is irrational, I did. You have to know that.” I knew I sounded desperate, but he only nodded. “I had these dreams, and you were dead, and I never knew, and you were in a coma, and I never knew, and you were gone.”

“I’m not going to leave you, Temperance,” Booth said, and brought me back to his chest.

“I’m not going to leave you either, Booth,” I said in response. “Never again.” 

“I love you, Temperance,” I heard him whisper. I pulled away again, and saw the intense emotion in his eyes.

“I love you too, Booth.” Booth dipped his head, and pressed his lips to mine. I wrapped my arms around his neck, and pulled him closer. His arms came around my back, and we only broke apart when it was necessary to breathe.

“Let’s go home. Someone will be back to pick him up later.” I only then remembered that Sully was in the room.

“I have one question for you before we leave. How did you know I needed your help?”

“The FBI was contacted by a pharmaceutical company concerning Sully. He was on anti-psychotic medication, and he hadn’t collected his prescription since he left. I knew something was wrong, in my gut, and I came to get you.”

“I’m glad you did, Booth. I… I don’t know how I would have felt if I had died without telling you that I loved you.”

“You’d probably feel dead,” Booth said, and I laughed, before linking my hand with his.

“You’d feel the same way,” I whispered seriously, and Booth looked into my eyes.

‘But I know now, Bones, so don’t worry. Everything will be fine, I promise you that.”

“Thanks,” I said, and followed Booth out of the boat and onto the dock. I watched as several other FBI Agents collected Sully. I let them.

I was safe in Booth’s arms.


End file.
